HSBC ranked 11 globally in the first half for investment banking fees, according to Thomson Reuters, behind Wells Fargo and ahead of UBS. It generated around $1 billion in fees globally, with $276 million in fees from the Americas.

Samir Assaf, CEO of global banking and markets at HSBC, told Financial Times last year that the bank was targeting market share gains in the advisory and equity business outside of Asia, its traditional area of strength.

"We have progressed in Europe and emerging markets in the last three years," he told the FT. "We think that we still have much more to go."